Jairam bats for villagers

Representatives of some organisations working in the area had raised the issue with Principal Secretary (Forest),Pravin Pardeshi. He was told the mill extracts bamboo from many places where villages have been granted rights under the Forest Rights Act (FRA). While Pardeshi had agreed to restore the coupes (a coupe comprises thousands of acres of bamboo) to villages,Ramesh had last week written to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan pointing out that BILT has also been given transit passbooks (TPs) to extract bamboo from some villages that have been given TPs. “Any contract or lease of forest areas where CFR are recognised should be immediately cancelled and appropriate compensation given to gram sabhas in whose jurisdiction bamboo has been extracted by private companies,contractors or the Forest Department itself,” Ramesh has said.

Ramesh was in Gadchiroli on Saturday to sort out issues he dealt with during his visit last year when he had handed over the first TP to Mendha-Lekha village that had waged a battle for rights to bamboo.

Pardeshi said: “While it’s true BILT had been given areas under a legal contract years ago,the will of gramsabhas should reign where CFRs have been granted.”

BILT has also been fighting a legal battle against the state government over hike in lease rates. While the government claims it had hiked rates after many years,BILT refused to accept it. Earlier,the royalty BILT used to pay was Rs 650 per tonne. The government had hiked it to Rs 1,500 two years ago.

BILT did not respond to requests for a comment.

Ramesh had pointed out in his letter that while BILT paid only Rs 650 per tonne,private contractors had to pay Rs 2,500 and ironically traditional bamboo artisans and other users ended up paying Rs 5,000 per tonne. “Taking the Gadchiroli bamboo initiative forward will have major implications on forest administration and management in the left-wing extremism affected districts,” Ramesh said in his letter.

On Saturday,the issue Forest officials clarified to Ramesh that the mill has been asked not to work in the villages. Ramesh clarified whether it was done in writing,and the officials said yes. He asked the officials to give a copy of the communication to villages concerned.